Sacrifices
by richiesan
Summary: When Bonnie betrays Clementine and Sarah in the escape from Howe's, they find themselves trapped in Howe's once again. With Tavia as the new leader and a herd outside, the price of survival may be larger than the rewards it reaps.
1. The Burden We Carry

Sacrifices

Chapter 1: The Burden We Carry

It was chaos. Complete fucking chaos. There were walkers everywhere, more than Clementine and Sarah had ever seen, even after Savannah. Neither of them could find the rest of the group. Clementine saw Sarah becoming increasingly nervous, even in the darkness. She was glancing around her, and her breathing became short and ragged. If they wanted to escape the horde alive, Sarah would have to calm down.

"Sarah. I need you to calm down. Please." Clementine said. It was as if Clementine had been talking to a wall. Sarah wasn't listening. It wasn't even clear whether she knew where she was. Their time was running out.

" _Sarah!_ " She hissed into the void. That got her.

"What?" She asked. She truly hadn't heard what Clementine had said the first time. This was bad.

"I need you to calm down or else we aren't going to-" Just then, a bullet whizzed past the two of them and right into Carlos's neck. The walkers could smell the blood, that much was clear. They gathered around him and began to eat him. Sarah was screaming. She was screaming so loudly. The walkers were starting to hear them, and once they caught onto the two of them there, it would all be over. Threads of their plan were beginning to fall apart, and the group members began to either be injured, or die.

 _This was a bad idea._

Sarita was clearing out walkers, trying to get to the two girls. Bonnie was with her, but she was just standing there. She was crying...but she was also smiling. They were still separated by an ocean of walkers. The walkers noticed Sarita, too. They devoured her all too quickly as well. It was going so fast. The scent of fresh blood flooded the air, and the walkers were gathering around Sarita's corpse and Bonnie. The rest of the group was nowhere to be found.

Bonnie still wasn't doing anything. She shot her a glance of complete desperation, but Bonnie's face was still unchanged. This was it. They were going to die. It wasn't fair. Clementine and Sarah were both so young yet...they would both meet their end in this terrible darkness, in a pit of the undead where their bodies would likely never be found.

Sarah charged through the walkers, she was still screaming. She had just watched the most important person in her life die. Clementine had seen the same all too many times, but Carlos was right. If she were to really see the true nature of this world, she would cease to function. And she did. She really did.

 _Sarah is going to get herself killed. I don't know what to do! I'm so...scared._

She felt almost as helpless as she did in Savannah, the whole debacle with Lee...poor Lee. He was probably watching her right now, shouting at her to do something. But she couldn't. Clementine couldn't move at all. It was the first time in a while she couldn't do anything, even after she promised she would never let anything like this happen again.

Almost as a hero, Bonnie caught Sarah in her arms, and covered her mouth. Clementine let out a sigh of relief. But Bonnie didn't stop there. She was still holding Sarah's mouth shut. And she...couldn't breathe! Bonnie was suffocating her. What was she doing?

"Bonnie!" Clementine tried to yell, but it was just a whisper. The crowd was quiet save for the moans and the gunshots coming from Howe's, but the world was so loud to Clementine. Her head was screaming. The world started to fade out once Sarah's body went limp. The world was going black around her. But behind her...someone grabbed her.

* * *

Clementine woke up in a field. She stood up, her knees weak. The sun was above her, blazing. It was hot outside again. In the middle of the field sat a building. It was safer than being outside, so Clementine made her way to the building in the field. As she approached it, she realized that it had a familiar look to it. It was something so far off in her mind...but it was so close to her. She pushed her way through the gate, and her jaw dropped. It was the old motor inn.

Lee was sitting next to Carley, and he was arguing with her about whether she should take the food he was offering her. She said that he should save it, in case he or Clementine began to lose energy. Lee reluctantly put the food back into his pocket.

Clementine saw herself, but she was smaller. Younger. It was that day. The day the St. John's began to break their group. Larry died there. That was what caused the already large rift in the group to grow even larger. But after Larry died...nothing worked after that. Maybe if they never came, many of the original group members would still be alive. But if they didn't...they very well may have starved to death. There is no winning in the apocalypse.

Lee threw the food on the ground, it was soiled now.

"I'm not giving this to Clementine! She can starve for all I care." He said. Carley laughed.

Clementine turned to the younger version of herself, but she was gone. She was just a pile of clothing where she was drawing. She remembered that drawing. She didn't get to do many things like that anymore. Lee turned to Clementine.

"There you are. Do you have any idea what you've done?" Asked Lee. Clementine was crying, yet again. One would think it was her favorite thing to do.

"No." Was all she said. Lee was furious.

"Of course not. How many people are going to die protecting you?" He spat the words at her. It was like Clementine was his mortal enemy. It wasn't fair.

"Lee. It's me. Clementine." Was all she could say.

"Oh. I know exactly who it is. The girl who got me killed. The girl who got Omid killed. Christa, too. Did you know she's fucking dead?" Lee wouldn't stop talking. He didn't even give her a chance to defend herself. "Can't forget about everyone that was hurt by your little rescue mission! Poor little ben. He was a little shit anyways, just like Kenny said."  
"Lee...stop!" She shouted. None of their deaths had ever been in vain, she carried the burden of their deaths day by day. It was what kept her going. Little Clementine. So little, yet so damaged. Even Pete had died in that truck to protect her.

"One day, someone's gonna put themselves before you. And I'll be waiting." He chuckled.

* * *

Clementine sat up, screaming at that same nightmare that plagues her for weeks every time someone around her gets hurt, or dies. She couldn't breathe. But this time, there was no one around her to comfort her. No Christa. Just the gun that was pressed to her forehead.


	2. Fire, Reload, Repeat

Chapter 2- Fire, Reload, Repeat.

 _Guest_ _chapter 1 . Feb 17_

 _Tlyer,Vera,Lowell,Tisha and Hank are member of Howes there actually characters in game. Just if need extra characters._

 _Please update._

Thanks for the character suggestions! I'll use them.

* * *

The air smelled like death. That was the understatement of the century, but the smell of hundreds of rotting corpses congregated all in one area was grotesque. The smell was the only thing on Tavia's mind while battling the walkers. That little girl's group had ruined everything they had been building. Everything kept changing. It only took a group of a few people to destroy the lives of dozens of people. Not that it mattered, anyway. The walkers began to enter the roof. They had gotten through every last line of defense they had.

"Everyone! They're getting on the roof! We have to fight through them!" Tavia shouted. She was moving in a rhythmic, robotic matter. _Fire. Reload. Repeat._ Carver had to be dead, there was no doubt. What was left of Howe's would be Tavia's. However long they all had.

Screams were coming from the middle of the herd on the ground. That group was having troubles of their own. The only thought that came to mind was how much they deserved what was coming to them. They don't have any idea what they've done to the people here. Tavia and Carver may have made questionable decisions, but there were still innocent people here. People that didn't deserve to die like this. But they did anyway. On both sides.

Tyler, Vera and Tisha all turned their attention to the walkers getting onto the roof. They didn't stop fighting for even a second. Every shot drew even more walkers into the store, but they couldn't stop firing. _Fire. Reload. Repeat._ They were an assembly line of killing machines, but it wasn't enough. More and more walkers were coming onto the roof. They were approaching the other survivors and biting them, sending both bodies tumbling off the roof of Howe's. The CD that Clementine had put into the intercom causing this entire mess was cut off suddenly. Maybe they stood a chance now.

Walkers lunged at Tyler, who was able to dodge them. He pushed them, sending them off the roof. They couldn't break their formation. They were at a stalemate with the walkers, with neither of them budging.

"One side has to give…" Tavia whispered. It would almost certainly be them. The walkers always take everything from the living, and this was just another example of it. She started to lose her will to fight. Her shoulders relaxed, and she wasn't killing them was viciously as she was before. They were losing.

A lot of the survivors that weren't being bitten were giving up and jumping off the roof. Including Tavia, Tyler, Vera and Tisha, there weren't many people left. They were starting to become outnumbered, and the number of gunshots in the air were dwindling. It was all unraveling. Tavia reached for another magazine in her pocket, but there was nothing left inside it.

"Oh _shit!_ " She shouted. She had no ammo left, and it seemed like the rest of them were running out too. Tavia tossed the automatic weapon on the floor, and took out her pistol, keeping it in one hand. In the other hand, she took out her survival knife. Their last stand had begun.

Tavia had moved onto more rhythmic actions. _Shoot. Stab. Repeat. Shoot. Stab. Repeat._ It was nowhere near as effective as the automatic weapon, but it was keeping her alive, and that was what mattered. The rest of the people on the roof followed suit, those that didn't have pistols had different melee weapons out. In fact, some even had shovels from the rooftop garden. Anything to hold them back. Each of them downed walkers as they made their way to the door that connected the rest of the building to the roof. The entire herd may as well have been on the roof; there would be miniscule difference.

 _This can't be the end…_

There was no way they could win. There were just too many of them on the roof right now. Most of the people on the roof were dead, and even if they _did_ make it, the community would be destroyed. The damages would be unprecedented. All because of Carver and his obsession with one woman and her group. No one even knew if Bonnie's plan had been successful. Word hadn't gotten back to any of the survivors on the roof.

They were overpowered, now. Way too many walkers on the roof. Maybe Tavia wouldn't have to fight anymore. Two years in, just two years in and this would be the end. She wouldn't have to fight anymore.

But just as they were about to give in, help arrived. People were firing from the bottom of the staircase leading to the building, killing walkers faster than Tavia could blink. Tavia kept stabbing at walkers, contributing what she could to the relief effort.

Bullets whizzed by Tavia's body. She was centimeters away from meeting the same fate as Carlos. But she would never know that she shot him. She wouldn't ever be able to tell, really. She would have to be careful, though. All it takes these days is a good enough grazing from a bullet to kill you.

After enough time, the walkers on the roof were cleared. Tavia got a good look at her unexpected saviors. It was some of the people she saved from _that_ camp...there was a tall woman, she wore green, and had very short hair. Then there was another man, perhaps Asian-American. The ones she had once saved also saved her.

"Sorry we're late. Take this." Shel said, tossing Tavia a full magazine for her weapon. She picked up her automatic weapon, reloading it with a fresh magazine. Their fight wasn't over. They would have to take Howe's back from the dead. It was going to take forever.

The group reached the main floor, which although had so, _so_ many walkers in it, there were less than expected. Shel must have seen her confused look.

"Russell and Wyatt were able to get the door closed. I don't know what we would have done without them here." Shel said. Tavia couldn't find words thanks to her unexpected survival on the roof. She saw the aisles of the store scattered with the bodies of people she used to call friends. So many people died. Shel opened fire on a crowd of walkers that were starting to come towards them on the stairs.

"Hope you're not tired! We've got a long way to go." Vince said menacingly.

And they did. They were fighting until their very last breath into the morning. They were able to fend off the walkers without further incident, but the herd was still stalking them from the outside. The loading bay door was closed and barricaded, but it could not hold them forever. It was only a matter of time before history repeated itself.

Tavia noticed a major shift in the group's atmosphere, too. Carver was dead. They found his body that morning. Everyone looked to Tavia on what to do next. She may have been outside the walls more than most of them, but she didn't have a clue what to do. The first order of business was to begin cleaning bodies out from the store. She ordered a few of the remaining group members to do that, and they listened. They could not open any doors to leave Howe's, so their only option was to toss the dead bodies off the roof. Some funeral for those they lost.

To pass the time, Tavia went down to the pen. The place where they were keeping survivors that didn't follow rules, or anything like that. That was the only place they had to put those three. In the end, they were able to recapture the people Carver ordered, as a last resort in case they tried to escape yet again, which they did last night.

There they were. Clementine, Sarah, and Rebecca. Looks like Bonnie did sat down in front of Clem, watching her sleep. This one girl is what helped precipitate so much chaos. Tavia took out her pistol, and held it up to Clementine. It her everything to not kill Clementine where she slept, to have it over with and then finish off the other two. But she couldn't. If she were to murder two kids and a pregnant woman...there would be no coming back from that. It was the only thing keeping her from pulling that trigger and releasing every last bullet into the three of them. The pistol was heavy in her hand, and it began shaking. After everything, she had not even had a second to sit down and react to what happened.

That's when the tears came. She couldn't stop crying. It was playing over and over again in her head, the people not only falling off the roof, but the ones _jumping._ She hadn't spoken a word since she was on the roof last night. She was scared to talk, if anything. Terrified that if she talked, walkers would hear her. That they would hear her and they would eat her alive. Tavia began to withdraw her gun from Clementine, but that was when Clementine sat up screaming, her forehead connecting to the other end of Tavia's gun.

Clementine was crying, too. They stared at each other, just crying while Tavia still held the gun to her head. They shared that moment of silence together, crying. It was all too weird for Tavia. Filled with such resentment for the group she was with, the group that tore them apart. Neither of them knew why the other was crying, but it changed nothing. They didn't stop crying for a long, long time.

"Do you know what you've done?" Asked Tavia. The gun was still up, and Clementine was looking straight at it. Clementine was shaking.

"No." Was all she said. Tavia looked at her with detestment in her heart. It was truly sick, all of it.

"Almost everyone is dead. You got what you wanted. Those that didn't die last night will die when the rest of that fucking herd breaks in." Clementine looked around, and quickly recognized where she was. Right back where she started. Trapped in Howe's, but this time with no way out. No one would ever let her leave the pen.

"You did this. And you're gonna pay for it one day." Tavia said. She took the gun away from Clementine's head.

"It was you guys who trapped us here in the first place!" Clementine shouted. "If you had just let us go, none of this would have ever happened!" Tavia shook her head at Clementine.

"That's where you're wrong. It _wasn't_ us. We were living under William Carver, and you don't say no to a man like him. Carver and his crew was what we _all_ had to fear. Not just you." Clementine was shocked at Tavia's response. She looked away. She couldn't face Tavia right now. They shared more moments of silence together. They spent more time together in silence at this point than actually talking. Tavia made her way out of the pen.

Tavia was back on the roof. She was helping throw bodies over the roof, at least to get them out of the store. Hopefully it would be enough for them all for now. The wind was calm, but the air was cold outside. The gentle breeze calmed her. She almost couldn't hear all the walkers outside the walls.

"What are we gonna do about _them?_ " Asked Tisha. Tavia looked back down to the herd in front of her. She looked to Tisha, and shook her head.

"I don't know." She was still formulating plans in her head, but she could not articulate anything. They were going to be stuck inside the store for a long, long time.

"Long as the doors hold up, we're safe." Tavia said. "After we finish up here, I think we need to call a meeting with the community. The rest of us are stuck here, waiting to be eaten. How much food is left?" Asked Tavia. Tisha gave her a pensive look.

"Before the attack we had about four to six months worth, but after the attack...we have about a year's' worth. That's right." A year's worth of food. At least they didn't worry about having to starve to death. One of the worst ways to go.

"Good. Good. Listen, why don't you go back down to the store and tell them we're having a meeting later today? I'll be just fine up here." Said Tavia. Tisha complied, and made her way down the stairs down to Howe's.

Tavia was their leader. She had to face everything happening to them on the front lines now. Everything would be different from here on out. She stood there studying the walkers below, muttering the mantra that kept her going the previous night. Fire, reload, repeat. Fire, reload, repeat.

 _Fire._

 _Reload._

 _Repeat._


	3. Support

Chapter 3- Support

TheBigBadWolf1 chapter 2 . Feb 27

I'm sorry, but William Carver is not an innocent man!

Not bad...not bad. I'm interested to see how the story will blossom and I want to see how Howe's will be like. Your writing's smooth, though sometimes, you tell instead of showing, in the wrong occasions. Transform "Lee was furious" to "Lee clenched his fists", for example.

Good chapter that sets up the story, Tavia gets some extra development. Although it might be a bit early to say this, but I'd expect Vince to become the leader instead of Tavia. Maybe there will be power struggles?

Thank you for your suggestions! I find you to be a rather prestigious member of the fanfiction community (A new day gone by) so I'm glad you put in this feedback! Its a common mistake in writing and I'm trying to break away from it. Also, I agree. Carver is a terrible man. I apologize if I implied anything otherwise in chapter two! What I was trying to say was while Tavia and Carver have done bad things, Howe's still had innocent people in it that didn't deserve to be caught up in the whole mess.

I don't want to give anything away about Tavia but that's definitely a good idea! Keep reading to find out what happens!

* * *

Clementine stood up as Tavia walked out of the pen. Her jaw was clenched, but walked with sadness written deep in her face. It was time for Clementine to rethink the plan. Once again they were trapped in Howe's, Rebecca and Sarah for the third time.

"Sarah! Sarah. Wake up." Clementine was gently shaking Sarah who was lying in her own cot. She wasn't waking up. "Sarah!" She opened her eyes, but she was still scared.

"My dad...he's okay, right?" Sarah asked. She didn't just ask, she practically begged, begged Clem to tell her that her dad was alive.

"Um...yeah." Said Clementine. Sarah was totally out of it, even after Bonnie knocked her out, which she probably wasn't even aware of. Did she even realize where she was? Maybe not. On the bright side, they were all lucky that Sarah was somewhere safe, and not outside the walls. Clementine shuddered at the thought at what could have happened to them had Sarah continued her meltdown outside of these walls. Sarah turned over and went back to sleep.

Clementine sat alone in the pen for hours. Rebecca stirred a few times, and even woke up once, but Clem refused to talk for now. She was still assessing their situation. No matter how bad it got, there was always a way out. She learned that way back in the days of Lee. With that group, they had survived everything. The tribulations of survival, making decisions that no one should have to make.

Clementine thought about that time at St. John's Dairy, stuck in that damn meat locker. Back then, they were trapped by others, waiting to be eaten. It sent chills up Clementine's spine. She was in the same place now all that time ago, yet this time, she was alone.

The pen door opened again, and Clementine stood up, defensively. It was an African-American woman with light skin. She had long hair, and donned a blue jacket with jeans. In her hands was a gun.

"All right, let's go." She said. "The name's Tisha, and you're going to work for us." She gestured Clementine to follow her.

Clementine examined the damages through Howe's. There was blood _everywhere._ The human blood and walker blood were...indistinguishable. The air inside the store was heavy, and no one said a word. It was slightly warmer inside Howe's than in the pen, and the numbness in Clementine's fingers started to fade.

A chill went down Clementine's spine, and she felt like someone was watching her. She looked around, but there was no one there. Although she scanned the store with the efficiency of a robot, there was no one around her. She shrugged off her paranoia.

"You're going to help move supplies to that comic book store this place is connected to." Tisha explained. "Just because you almost killed us all, it doesn't mean we aren't going to put you to _work._ " Goosebumps went up on Clem's neck. The way she spat the word work made her stomach sour.

* * *

Clementine was moving boxes of food, alone. There were other people in the room, but not one acknowledged her existence. There was a man in the room making adjustments to the windows and doors. Clementine only caught his name once, his name was Lowell. He was reinforcing the doors, and putting extra defenses on the windows. The comic book store was to be their last line of defense.

Clementine looked around the room. She had almost died here, trying to escape from walkers. Not only that, this was one of the last rooms she saw Luke in. She wondered where the rest of the group was. Jane, Kenny, Mike, and Luke were all somewhere outside the walls. Clementine gulped. They all probably thought that the three of them, along with Bonnie were all dead. But they were very much alive.

"Hey, you're the girl that was part of that group, right?" Asked Lowell. Clementine was jarred from her mind, and put back into reality. The man had stopped working on the doors and walls, ceasing the beat of the hammer.

"Yes, I am. Why?" Asked Clementine. Her heart started to beat a little faster as he stepped closer to her.

"I can't believe what you did…" Said the man. He was stepping closer and closer to Clementine, who was stepping backwards at the same rate. "I just can't stop thinking about it…" Clementine was up against the wall now, and he was about ten feet away from her still. Neither of them had garnered the attention of the others in the room.

"I just wanted to say that you are both a blessing and a curse for me." He let out in a shrill whisper. Clementine squinted her eyes at him. "I saw what he did. I watched him... _do_ things to people. That kind of stuff stays with you. He's dead...but maybe we are too."

"Like what?" Clementine asked. He had her full attention, this place was still an enigma to her. Lowell shook his head in response.

"I've watched him kill innocent people. There was a woman with her child here, once. It was about six months ago. It was just starting to get cold, you know? It's harder to move around and look for food up here in the winter. When they got here, they were starving to death. It was so horrible. They were all but a pile of bones by the time they got to us. We had the supplies to save them. But it wasn't that simple for Carver. He didn't take just take them in and have that be the end of it. Carver liked to... _prolong_ things. He made them work for more hours than they could for food, but they were weak. So weak. When one would collapse from exhaustion, not that long after they had begun, he'd _hit_ them. That asshole, Troy, would cheer him on. They loved it. They loved hurting people. I still remember the cries. They lasted through the night. Well, most of it. It turned out the mother succumbed to her injuries. When Carver and his crew went to wake them up the next morning, they found the mother eating her child. They had only made it one night with him. Imagine what he's done to us over _months._ I still think about them every day. I watched it happen to them. Maybe I could have stopped it…" Lowell went on and on. Clementine's entire body was tingling, imagining the grotesque nature of the story.

"Why are you telling me this?" Clementine asked. "You know nothing about me. You don't even know if I'd care."

Lowell frowned. "The kid...she looked like you. Not only that, but, I just wanted you to know that if you didn't kill him, I probably would have."

Clem felt sick after Lowell's story. She didn't want to work anymore. She was in a store filled with people who lived with an evil man and his group. They controlled a store that people killed each other in, a store where people plotted the deaths of others, Clementine and the cabin group being a part in this game.

Just what in the _hell_ kind of place were they?

Clementine's train of thought was at least well complimented with her work, she was able to fall into a rhythm all while thinking about the things most important to her. That was, until she was met with a fist to the face.

"You _bitch!_ I should kill you." There was a girl in front of her, a few years older, although likely younger than Sarah. Clementine was caught completely off guard as she fell to the ground, covering the cut on her mouth, hindering the blood spilling to the floor. "This is all your fucking fault!" The girl was kicking Clementine now, and she felt sharp pains shoot through her torso. Each thump on her torso echoed louder throughout her body, and it soon became the only thing she could hear. She lay there, defenseless. She couldn't get Becca off her even if she tried. She was bigger and stronger, and Clementine was already weak from her injuries.

Lowell turned around and saw the debacle. Jaw dropped, he pulled the girl away from Clementine.

"Becca, stop." He said. Becca was scrambling in Lowell's arms, and all the noise eventually drew other people into the store.

"What the hell's going on in here?" Asked Vince. He was making his way past the comic book store when he heard the shouts. He stood there, dumbfounded by the fight that had occurred before him.

"Go get Shel. She needs to take care of this." Lowell commanded. Vince ran out of the store, without a moment's hesitation. Shel ran into the store shortly after Vince left.

"Becca, I've been looking for you! Where have you bee-" Shel stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Clementine on the ground, mouth bloodied. "Oh god…" Shel covered her mouth, too. "Becca...what did you _do?_ "

Lowell set Becca down, who was scowling. "I did what no one else here wants to do. I'm going to give them what they deserve." Said Becca. There was a vindictiveness upon her voice.

"Bec, you can't do that! She's a little girl! We can't just kill her!" Shel was pleading with Becca, who wasn't having any of it.

"Just like we couldn't kill Stephanie? They're no different, Shel." Becca retorted. The two sisters were now engaged in a full on verbal fight, pulling the last straw from Shel.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Stephanie was our friend, how was I supposed to just kill her? And now, we're talking about a little girl here! There are other ways, Bec!" Shel said. Her voice was shaking with her words, and her fists were clenched tightly. Clementine was still curled up on the floor, facing away from the fight. She wanted it to all just stop.

"Someone's got to make the tough choices, Shel. Clearly neither you or Tavia are up to it. No wonder this place fell apart. No one else here could do what Carver could." Becca scoffed at Shel.

"It's not your decision to make!" Shouted Shel at Becca, who was already halfway out the door. Shel turned to Clementine, with tears in her eyes. "Oh...I'm sorry she did that." She knelt down, examining Clementine's wounds. "We need to get you some help." Those were the last words Clementine heard as the world faded from her once more.

* * *

Clementine awoke to Tavia, Shel and another woman were all in the room with her. She reminded Clementine of Katjaa. They were back in the pen, and both Rebecca and Sarah were awake now.

"Her injuries aren't terrible." The blonde woman said. She gave an uneasy look to Clementine, and then looked back to Tavia. "Becca really did get her good though. A few bruised ribs, a bloody lip. She's going to need about a week on bedrest. I'm sorry but I can't allow you to let her work. If her injuries persist it opens her up to the possibility of infection, and we can't spare the antibiotics...do you know what I'm saying?" She explained.

Tavia had a hand on her forehead, her eyes were closed. "Yes, I do." The woman handed a bottle of pills to Tavia.

"We can spare only a small amount of these painkillers. But between you and me, should she really be getting any of this?" She asked.

Tavia opened her eyes and glared at the woman. "Of course I do, Vera. I'm not denying her care for injuries caused by us."

Vera pursed her lips, studying Tavia. "If someone else were to get injured-"

"I don't care! We're building something different here. I'm ecstatic the community meeting got through to everyone." The sarcasm in Tavia's voice was bitter. "Did anyone listen to me at all?"

"I did." Shel said. "If we're going to build something different from what Carver had here, we need to _be_ different." She explained. "The things he did...made me _sick._ " Shel looked away in what looked like sadness and disappointment. "How could we let someone like him lead us?"

Tavia took Shel's hand. "I don't know. But I promise you. It will never happen again. Not under my watch." She replied. Everyone else in the pen was watching. Rebecca looked to Clementine. Her eyes were widened. Clementine had only seen a sliver of what Carver was capable of. Rebecca had seen what evil could really do.

Rebecca let out a moan. She was in pain. Tavia shared a look with Tisha. "She's going to give birth any day now…" Vera said. It was all that needed to be said. They were all trapped in Howe's. With trouble upon them, Rebecca was also about to give birth. "That was probably her first contraction." Vera explained. "Within the next few days…"

" _No_. I'm not giving birth to my baby _here._ I just won't." Rebecca protested. She was holding her stomach, there was a little human inside, and it was almost ready to come out.

"It looks like biology isn't giving you much of a choice." Vera said. Rebecca rolled her eyes. Tavia widened her eyes and shook her head at Vera.

"Offer her help." Tavia whispered to Vera. Vera shook her head back, and mouthed the word 'really?' at her. Tavia nodded sternly.

"Fine. If we're all still alive and your contractions get shorter apart, let me know." She said in a deadpan voice.

"Was that so hard?" Tavia smiled. Vera stood up and left the pen.

Shel went over to Clementine.

"I'll keep checking up on you. What Becca did was wrong. I'll see to it that she knows it." She said. Clementine was staring at Shel, but said nothing to her. "Come on Tavia. There's still work to do." Just like that, they were left alone.

"How are you feeling?" Rebecca asked. Clementine sighed.

"I feel horrible." She replied.

"Looks like you really got it bad. What's it like out there?" Clem thought about everything she's seen so far today. From Becca following her and beating her up to Lowell's unnerving actions in the comic book store, it was a lot to take in.

"Worse than I feel." Clementine said. Rebecca let out a small chuckle, the first laugh she's heard in a long, long time. "There's a lot going on right now, but it's not safe here."

"They aren't getting away with this. I can promise you that much." Rebecca put her hand over her stomach.

Rebecca went to where Clementine was lying and took her hand. "We can't escape again if I'm about to have my baby. I'm sorry, Clementine. But I'm afraid we're stuck here." Rebecca said.

She was crying again. There was no leaving Howe's now. They were now stuck here. Indefinitely. "It's okay. We can't leave unless Sarah is feeling better again anyway. We can't endanger her like that." Now they'd just be stuck here _longer._ "I understand, Rebecca. There isn't another safe place for miles. If you had your baby on the outside...It'd be just like…" Clementine stopped. The memory was still too much for her.

"We'll escape here one day, Clem." Rebecca said. She pulled Clementine closer to her, who was now crying in her chest. The only people the three of them had were each other.

"It's just the three of us now. We need to be able to support each other. Come here." She was shaking in Rebecca's arms. Just one week ago, they had been at odds together. "Shh. Don't cry. We're gonna be okay, Clem." Clementine was wincing in pain in between breaths of crying.

"What about Sarah? Is she going to be okay?" Questioned Clementine. She was awake, but was staring blankly at a wall. Rebecca looked at Sarah and thought about her.

"Sarah is struggling. I don't know what Carlos told you about her, but she has...problems. She just watched her dad die, and she doesn't really know how to process it. We have to be here to support her." Rebecca said.

"I saw my parents once, too. They were dead." Clementine said.

"I'm so sorry, Clementine." Rebecca whispered. "This is all my fault...If I had just stayed here with Carver...none of this would have-"

"No, everyone that died, we can't forget them by saying that. Carver hurt you, and he got what he deserved." Clementine pulled away from Rebecca, who looked away from Clementine at the mention of Carver. The moment they shared in that room with Kenny, bashing in Carver's skull would be...unforgettable.

"We should be here for Sarah. She's going to need us." Rebecca said. The two girls sat on both sides of Sarah, consoling her.

It didn't have much effect on Sarah, but getting the words of support out there were the most important thing right now. Sarah was unresponsive. Clementine and Rebecca shared another look between them, both of them unsure about what to do next.


	4. A Community Divided

Tavia was in one of the supply closets, taking inventory of the supplies. She was rearranging shelves, to help re-gauge how much medicine they had left. She sighed. The shelves were arranged as if they were an art, so neatly and intricately.

"Not a lot left." She scribbled a few words down on a clipboard and returned the bottle of pills back to its place. The last person in charge died during the attack, so Tavia stepped up to the plate and took over the job for now. Tavia was spread rather thin around Howe's. But then again, so was everyone worked with vigor. Letting them get behind on the terrifying amount of work they had to do would be an injustice. The room itself was rather comfortable; there was a certain safety in the supply rooms. She spent a good deal of time in there, working alone, until she heard a knock.

Tavia opened the door, which made a horrible creak, and behind it was Tisha.

"Hey." She said. Tavia was brushing her hands off on her jacket, she had just finished her shift, just in time for the meeting.

"What do you need?" Asked Tavia, who peered into the pen to see two of the girls sleeping, but the third one was awake. Tavia was in there a couple hours ago. Tavia still did not have a plan for them, but for now they would stay in the pen.

"I don't really need anything. I was just wondering when the meeting will be so I can take on the crowd with you." Tavia smiled at the offer. "You shouldn't have to do this alone, you know. And you're not. We're all coming together to get this place back up and running again."

Tavia took a much needed breath. "Thank you, Tisha. It means a lot, really. I just have to finish up taking inventory and I'll start to gather people. Tavia put a hand on Tisha's shoulder. "Thanks again."

It hadn't even been a day yet, but to Tavia it felt like eons. Yesterday, their future was certain. Today, they did not know tomorrow. The apocalypse really had its way of turning people on their ass when they least expected it. Two years in, it was Apocalypse 101. It felt like time was moving slower, though. Tavia rubbed her eyes.

 _When was the last time I even slept?_

She counted the hours in her head, hours that came from another life. She would be moving onto thirty hours without any sleep.

 _Goddamn, I'm so tired._

The rest of inventory was easy, all that was left was the armory supply. Bonnie was in charge of that, but she was nowhere to be found. So once again, Tavia took over. She dozed off a few times, counting bullets and whatnot, but their supply of ammo was cut by sixty-five percent after the previous night.

"Wow, that's a lot of ammo." She murmured to herself. The room was completely empty, emptier now after all those bullets were used. "Where the hell is Bonnie?" Tavia hadn't seen her since before the attack on the walkers. Had anyone else seen her?

Tavia finished up her work, and found herself back on the main floor of Howe's. There was a small makeshift stage in the middle of the room, presumably for Tavia. Blood caked the floors, no one has even had time to actually clean the floors.

 _Those girls are gonna do it._

Tavia glanced at the pen again. No. It was not worth it. They would do their part just like anyone else, and that would be the end of it. Tavia stood up on the stage, gathering the attention of people around her.

"Excuse me! Can I have everyone's attention please!?" She echoed through the silent store. It only took a few minutes for everyone to be there. Tisha was standing right next to Tavia, on the stage with her.

"The past few days, a lot has been going on in our community. Last night, the group we were holding captive here attempted to escape by letting hundreds of walkers into our facility. Their plan ended in a complete failure. Bonnie and Lowell were able to recapture three of them by using the element of surprise, and bring them back here."

"Good! They deserve what's coming to them." Vince shouted. Murmurs traveled through the crowd, agreeing with his statement.

"That's not what I'm trying to say here, people. Carver was obsessed with this group, and for whatever reason wanted the three of them back here at Howe's. That is all I know about this,, meaning we don't have the whole story; and we aren't going to hurt them." Her comments left a distasteful taste in the mouths of the people, colliding with the crowd. Many whats and whys traveled through the room.

"That's...bullshit." Vince said. "They tried to _destroy_ us. We should return the favor." Before Tavia even had the chance to respond, Becca decided to get a word in, also.

"That's right! We should kill whoever tries to kill us!" She shouted, Shel nudged Becca with her elbow, scolding her. The seeds that Vince and Becca planted began to grow through the crowd, who became rowdy. One half of the crowd was calling for the death of them, and the other half was fighting with the people calling for their death. The community was divided.

"Kill them!" A man screamed.

"No! It isn't right!" Shel responded.

The tension was growing, the community going awry. The debating, if that's what it even was, turned into arguing, becoming a yelling contest. Tavia was lost in the crowd. Her heart was pounding as they grew more and more out of control. She rubbed her eyes, still exhausted.

"Stop…" She said. Not even Tisha, who was right next to Tavia heard her.

"Please…" Tavia whispered again.

"Everybody _stop!_ " Tisha bellowed, calming the crowd. "We aren't hurting them. If we do...then we're no different than Carver." She looked away from the people in front of her.

"Maybe that's the kind of person we need to be now." Vince hissed. "At least with him we knew that we had a community to wake up to the next day."

Tavia's head was throbbing, her head was hot.

"Except you don't anymore, and it was all his fault. Everyone is dead because he couldn't get over one woman and her group." She retorted. Everyone was watching their bickering back and forth, no one else even whispered. "Bonnie and Lowell may have recaptured them, but that doesn't mean we're killing them. For now, they're going to stay in the pen. It isn't like they can leave, anyway."

"They can't leave...and they can't stay here." Was all Vince responded with. Chills went crawling down Tavia's spine, prompting her to change the subject to another matter at hand.

"There is another problem, too. The herd outside is still here, and we have no substantial means of defending ourselves. There are too many of them to pick off from the roof, and even if we did the gunshots would just attract more walkers. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. But, I have a plan. We have to stay quiet, and use as little light as possible at night. After a while, the walkers should disperse and follow something else that interests them. This could take days, it could take weeks. We have as much time as those doors give us, and enough food to last about a year. As of right now, we have no other option." This time she was not met with any resistance, no one else had a plan. Waiting was the only choice they had.

"How long is it until those three decide they want to try and kill one of us again? What are you gonna do then?" Vince spat. Tavia stood there, at a loss for words after what had just happened.

"It's not gonna come to that." She said.

* * *

The disaster had been over, and having Tisha by her side up there had made Tavia feel better. The entire meeting had been completely pointless, and everyone returned to their duties. Tavia wandered off from the center of the room, and found herself an inconspicuous place in one of the corners of the store. She leaned on the wall, trying to contain her shaky breath.

In fact, her entire body was shaking. Standing up in front of an entire community influenced by a person who very well may have been a madman, was truly something else. They had all spent their respective times living under Carver. Tavia felt sick, sick at the thought someone could just do what Vince had said.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" It was Tisha again. Tavia stood up hastily, and tried to get a grip on herself. "That was...bad."

"You're telling me. Imagine being in my position. What the hell was Vince saying? That isn't like him." Tavia questioned. Tisha sighed, shaking her head.

"Hell if I know. Think he'll do anything?" Asked Tisha.

"Don't know. We need one of those girls to help us in the comic book store, we are understaffed and overworked as it is, they seem able bodied enough to help out."

Tisha nodded, and no further words were needed.

"Oh, and one more thing." Tavia said, still choking back her tears.

"Yeah?"

"Guard the pen."

* * *

Tavia had unhatched another plan outside of the community meeting. They would reinforce the comic book store connected to Howe's as a sort of safe room, or even a room they could hide in as a last resort. A final stand, of sorts. It was out of the way of Howe's and its deteriorating defenses, but it was cramped and small. The store had an emergency exit in the back, which led to more thick woods infested with walkers, so it was barricaded as well.

The windows and doors would soon be so reinforced the walkers could not get in. It would be one of the biggest risks they have taken, but it gave them a chance if all was lost.

Construction had begun and was moving swiftly, Lowell was already working on the windows. The hammering he was doing was already breaking the "no noise" policy they established, but Tavia made a special exception for this project. After the cleanup, this room would be their most important project. The rest would just be waiting.

However, construction ended once Tavia got word of what happened in the comic book store. The little girl, Clementine, was attacked by Becca.

"What the hell happened?" Tavia demanded. Clementine was unconscious in the bed, surrounded by Shel and Vera. Rebecca was on the other side of the pen, watching them. The pen was outside of the store, and the sounds of the walkers were amplified outside. The noises kept Tavia on her toes, but luckily they were safe behind the tall, metal fences inside the store.

"Becca found her. Followed her into the comic book store, and beat the crap outta her." Shel said. She had a sad look written on her face.

"Shel, its ok. This isn't going to be easy on any of us." Tavia responded. "I didn't expect everyone to agree with me...its just...I don't know..." She had put her hands on her head, caressing it.

"And Rebecca's pregnancy. Vera said…"

"I know what Vera said." Tavia cut her off. People were around the pen's exit, looking onto their conversation, hoping to salvage some part of what they were talking about. Outside of Tavia's circle and Clementine's group, no one else knew what was going on yet, but it would spread.

"She's going to need _a lot_ of medicine." Tavia said nothing, and just looked at her. Her head was heavy, and her eyes puffy. Thirty six hours since she had slept, the magic number.

"We can handle it." Tavia said. Their whispers were contained to the table.

"Can we? How much medicine is left?" Vera demanded. Tavia's reaction was slowed, and the world swayed around her. She started to feel sick.

"Enough." Their conversation had continued, and Clementine woke up.

"Her injuries aren't terrible." Vera had explained to them; her voice raised so that Clementine could hear them. They had talked on and on about how Clementine was unable to work, Rebecca's pregnancy came up again, and Vera had left the pen, and Shel had delivered her words of support to Clementine.

""I'll keep checking up on you. What Becca did was wrong. I'll see to it that she knows it." And Tavia and Shel left as well, but it would not be over.

"Hey, Tavia can I get a word with you?" Shel asked. Yet another conversation. Tavia's limbs felt grounded, she could barely pick up her feet, but now she had to stimulate more conversation.

"Sure. What is it now?" Tavia asked. That much was true, what could it be now? Shel got so close to Tavia, it was almost as if she was sharing government secrets.

"It's about Vince. I was going to let it go, but after what he said today, I just can't." Shel said. Tavia gave her a questioning look, her words were starting to sound further away.

"What about him?" She responded.

"He's been acting...weird lately. We were together long before you found us, and I know this isn't like him. But then, it got me thinking. Maybe, just maybe, this _is_ like him." Tavia was left with even more questions with Shel's unclear words.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Tavia had sat down, she could not stand anymore she was so tired. She would have to just crawl off to some corner and go to sleep. Enraveled in her thoughts, she held back a small laugh, pondering how she could even sleep at a time like this.

"Before this whole thing started...he was off to jail. Vince murdered someone before the turn. In cold blood, trying to protect his brother.

He only told us at our camp, and we decided that if we could trust each other, then we were the only ones that needed to know. But then Bonnie happened, and then his words today moved me. Vince said that kind of shit about someone that's younger than Becca. I just don't think I can protect him anymore…If he was capable of murder before the turn, what kind of person is he _now?_ " Shel said, her voice cracking. She was crying.

Then came back Tavia's most familiar emotion these days, disgust.

"You guys have been with us how long, and that has never come up once?" Tavia said. This must have been some sick joke. While it was true every one of them has had to do something they didn't like, none of them here committed murder before the turn. Back when society still had elements of civility.

"It never came up…" It just had to be a joke. It had to be. Carver may not have cared, but something like this mattered now. Just, what the hell?

Tavia's body had finally decided to give in, and the world began to fade away. Spots formed in her vision, dismembering the world she saw around her. She tried to move from her place towards Shel, who was just staring at her, but Tavia's face quickly met the ground.

Things were bad enough, and now Tavia had learned a secret about Vince. He has killed before, and whether he would ever do it again like this was a mystery. The threads had started to become unweaved before they were even able to _be_ weaved. And just like that, the scales of peace were tipped.

Either way, where the hell was Bonnie?


	5. Alvin

Chapter 5- Alvin

Sarah's eyes were closed, and her glasses hung lowly on her face. She was still grimy from that night outside Howe's, all of them were. It had been hard to ignore, the rank stench that was decayed walker blood. They had garnered a few disgusted looks from Tavia and Co, but none of them had been offered any new clothes.

"This can't be healthy..." Murmured Rebecca, her clothing making wet noises as she moved about. Clementine choked down gags at the noises, waves of the smell entering her nose. They had sat for almost an entire day in these clothes, Clementine's blue jacket completely soiled.

However, nothing seemed to bother Sarah. She was still shut down after everything. She had seen Clementine enter the pen after being attacked, and they had shared only glances between each other. She had let out a few whispers, though.

 _"I should get my dad. He could help us."_

Whispers were all she could manage, at this point. She was in complete denial, and wasn't even aware of her father's death. Sarah was breaking down, and Clementine didn't have a clue how to help her. Rebecca didn't, either. They had gathered around her, and they just sat there. There wasn't much to say anymore, and being there was all that could be done. It didn't work. The only thing they could do now was wait. Wait for her episode to pass over and go from there.

 _Poor Sarah..._

It all floated through Clementine's thoughts, an ocean of words. She clenched her torso, a shot of pain traveled through her body. The medicine had not yet kicked in, but maybe it would soon. Tavia had expended as many powers within her group as she could to get Clementine that medicine. Once again, someone put Clementine before themselves.

"What are the chances we can get some new clothes?" Rebecca said to Clementine. The sticky noises were once again penetrating her ears, holding back even more gags. Her clothes seemed to be in worse shape than Clementine's, at least she wasn't in Rebecca's shoes.

"I think I can help with that." Suddenly, by the door of the pen emerged a man. It was unclear how long he had been there watching them. None of them had even heard the door open. It was an Asian man, with medium length hair, down to his eyes. The guard by their door had gone away, there had been a commotion going on outside. He had his arms crossed, and donned a red shirt with blue jeans. He fluffed his hair, and moved it behind his ear. "But, you're going to have to work for it." A sinister smile grew on him.

Rebecca studied him, astonished by his mysterious entrance. They had all seen him around Howe's before, but never truly interacted with him. His words sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"I have something you need, and in return, you can do something for me." Clementine shot a confused look from across the pen, the only thing between them being the campfire with chairs surrounding it.

"Like what?" Clementine said. Vince grabbed a chair and plopped down into it. It screeched across the concrete, tensing Clementine's muscles.

"Just normal stuff. Nothing too complicated. You guys are free to be lazy and sit here in clothes covered in all that shit, but I think you should contribute. You may be prison- guests here, but you still use our food...and our water...I'm sure medicine too. " He glanced at Rebecca, who scowled at him. "Don't you guys think you should do your part, regardless of what risks may be involved?" The smirk on his face remained.

"I...don't think I can do anything, I was attacked by that girl Becca earlier." Clementine put a hand over her bruised ribs. Her injuries had not been severe, although they would impede her movement. "Do you think you can get clothes for all of us Rebecca?"

"Me? I'm about to explode. I don't think I can do it, either." Rebecca responded. Clementine sighed, and turned to Sarah. Still stoic.

"Oh no. This is a group effort. Its all or nothing. You either all do what you're told, or you get nothing." He said.

Clementine and Rebecca shared a glance between them, both questioning the other. Frowning, they both shook their heads.

"Fine." They said in unison.

* * *

Howe's still had its rather dismal setting, except now all the bodies were cleared from the store. The lights were dimmed, but life was slowly returning to the store. What was once complete silence was now a store filled with short murmurs. The floors were still caked with blood, though. And small items were scattered in disarray from the shelves. Howe's had came a long way in just a day, but the journey was far from over.

Vince threw Clementine and Sarah mops, and Rebecca was put on shelf duty. With the bodies gone, the store needed its superficial parts repaired. The blood had long crusted over, and became a deep red color, but when the mops made contact again, it became a watery, vibrant red once more. Clementine held back grunts of pain, moving the mop from bucket to floor. Sarah was doing what she could, but it was all too much. Quiet sobs emanated from her, to which Clementine tried to ignore. What Sarah was going through was egregious. Still, there was not a thing that could be done. Sarah's father was dead, and he was not coming back.

Once again Clementine was out working around the store, this time it felt...different. Would Vince had even taken no for an answer? It weirded her out, but it wasn't like she had many options anyway. Stay inside the pen all day, dirty and disgusting, or endure a bit of work in lieu of her injuries.

The three of them must have been quite the scene to the people of Howe's. Again and again Clementine felt eyes on her, but ignored them. Despite her injuries, she was able to at least fall into a gentle motion of mopping. What happened with Becca shouldn't happen again. She kept one eye open, in case anyone decided to try to come after her or any of them again.

Vince had long disappeared from the scene, but Clementine was still mopping. The pain in her ribs began to grow, and even breathing began to hurt a little. But she kept going. She even picked up the slack for Sarah, who was still not doing much of anything.

But, where was Vince? It had to have been at least three hours since they had last seen Vince, his promise still unfulfilled. The two girls had not made that much progress on the floors, but it was noticeable. She had stifled more shots of pain in her torso through that time. It didn't seem fair. Vera said she shouldn't be doing much out of bed, but yet here she was out here, doing things. Clementine felt weary on the balls of her feet, the three hours may as well have been eight. Actually, she hadn't seen anyone. There they were on the main floor, yet not one person had approached them yet. Tavia, Shel, Tisha, Vince, no one.

 _Weird._

Rebecca's and Clementine's rounds eclipsed, and they met each other on the floor. She had bags under her eyes, and she was breathing heavily.

"You okay Rebecca?" Asked Clementine. She could not have looked well either, Rebecca was giving her the same look.

"I don't know. I feel fine but..." Her voice trailed off. "When is this shit going to be over? I don't know how much more I can take. Why is he doing this to us? He told me to keep doing shit even if he didn't come back. It's starting to get dark. I just feel like I'm going in circles at this point, Clem."

"This has got to be over soon, Rebecca." Clementine said. "He can't keep us like this forever. If he isn't back soon, let's just stop. This is getting ridiculous." Rebecca kept walking, dragging her feet in her steps. Her stomach looked like it was about to explode, she was to term.

 _Please come back…_

Suddenly, a loud scream erupted from someone in the store. That scream belonged to Rebecca. Clementine dropped everything she was doing and followed the noise. She found Rebecca kneeling, sobbing over a dead body. Alvin's dead body.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Alvin. I'm so sorry." Her voice was shaking, and she repeated words of regret over and over. Clementine remembered how he had died. He was battered by Carver, covered in wounds. That night, he saved Clementine's life. He was able to shoot Hank. But in doing so, he died as well. With everything that happened, Clementine forgot about this.

"Rebecca..." Clementine said. Rebecca's head rested on his chest, her tears unrelenting.

"I can't believe you're gone...I knew you were dead but...I needed to see. I needed to see for myself." Her voice was breaking all over, choking back sobs between her words. A man stood above her, he must have been carrying Alvin's body out of the office when Rebecca came across them. He looked at Rebecca and Clementine with pity. He was scowling, and stood there doing nothing.

Once again Clementine and Rebecca were gathering attention from people in the store, a small circle had formed around them. They all watched, without a word. It was as if Clementine, Rebecca, and Sarah were an exhibit at the zoo. Everyone around them watched, but no one did anything for them.

"This is so horrible." Clementine turned around, only to see Sarah there, clinging to one of the store's shelves, a horrified expression on her face.

"Alvin?" She whispered, her voice high pitched. She didn't move from her spot on the floor. Her jaw dropped, seeing Alvin's destroyed face. "Oh my god!" She shouted. It had been the most emotion she showed since last night, and it had been to yet another corpse of someone she once knew. Sarah stepped backward, and blended back into the growing crowd around them.

"Sarah! Where are you going?" Clem shouted. But she was gone. Rebecca was still hunched over Alvin's body, broken. She had calmed down a little, but was muttering into his cold ears.

"This baby...It's yours. I know it. I just don't think I can do this alone, Alvin. Its just me and the girls now. I don't know what to do...oh god." She burrowed her head into his chest again. Clementine approached Rebecca, and put a hand on her shoulder. Rebecca jumped at Clem's touch, but relaxed when she saw Clementine's face. She glanced at the man on the other side of Alvin's body, who had still not said a word. His expression had not budged, and he stared at the ground absentmindedly. He had a strong build, required to carry a man as large as Alvin's caliber. He had no voice, and a less important name. "Alvin...when our baby is born, he's going to hear all about the best father ever - you. How you wished to be here and watch him grow up, but passed away trying to save us. And you did. You saved us. We get to live thanks to you. Thank you, my love." She hugged his body. Clementine wiped tears away from her face. Rebecca took a deep breath. "We should bury him."

"And how do you expect we do that?" Rebecca jerked her head sideways, and saw Vince. He was grinning. Emerging from the crowd, he threw down three sets of clothes for the girls. Clementine picked them up.

"What do you mean?" Rebecca said. She shared a flustered look with Clementine. Vince laughed at them.

"What do you think we've been doing with the bodies here? We've been trapped here since yesterday thanks to you guys. Just think." Clementine tried to remember, pulling and stretching her memory. She saw many carrying bodies up the stairs to the roof. The realization hit Clementine like a bunch of bricks.

"No. You can't." Clementine commanded. He laughed again.

"That's right. We've been throwing them _right off the roof._ " Rebecca stood up, her fists clenched.

"You are not throwing my husband off this roof. I won't let you." She shook with her words. They echoed through the store, it was once again silent. Vince gave her a hard look.

"Take him up." He said in spite. The strong built man beckoned to his commands, and picked Alvin up. Rebecca began pulling on Alvin's body, pulling him away from the man who would take him away.

"You can't! No! Please!" She pleaded. But, it was no use. The man did not budge, and he was to complete his order. Rebecca tugged on Alvin's body again, and the man lurched backward.

"Rebecca, stop this bullshit. He's dead." Vince said. Rebecca ignored his words and struggled vehemently. She was a mess, hyperventilating and screaming. Everyone else just watched, indifferent to Rebecca's predicament.

Rebecca hunched over, grabbing her stomach. "Ohh." She moaned, even surprising Vince with this development. The contraction rocked Rebecca's body, driving her to kneel. "Fuck."

"Everyone get the fuck out of my way! _Move!_ " Tisha broke from the crowd, Clementine let out a sigh of relief. It was at least a face she knew. Tisha scanned the group in the center of the circle, seeing Clementine and Rebecca. Her eyes slowly moved to the corpse that man was holding. She covered her mouth in horror. "Oh no..."

Vince chuckled as all the pieces fell into place. "I take no responsibility for this. I had absolutely nothing to do with this." His sinister smirk remained. Clementine held back the urge to spit in his face.

"Vince...what did you do? What the hell did you do?" She shouted. Tisha was frantic. "You did something anyway? We fucking talked about this!" She was hitting Vince with each word, where he took a step back with each hit, until he was backed up against a wall.

Tisha walked with a certain fury about her, putting Clementine's heart in her throat. "Tavia isn't with us right now, and you do whatever the _fuck_ this is? Why? " Her voice grew with each word. She turned to Rebecca, who was still on the ground. "I am so sorry for what he's done. We told him to not do anything while we were downstairs. Whatever he did...this was no accident."

"He did this? Did he set all this up just so I could see my husband's dead body? Oh... Why would someone do something like that?" She was flooded with despair. She clutched her stomach even harder. "I don't know how much more I can take." Rebecca whispered. She winced, and her face contorted in pain. "I think Vera was right. A few more days, and that's all..."

Tisha put a hand on her forehead. "What a mess...Vince, downstairs. Now." She looked to Rebecca and Clementine. "We need to get you guys back to the pen. I hate to admit it, but I can't guarantee either of your safety anymore." She gestured for them to follow her, but Rebeca resisted.

"I don't want to leave without saying a proper goodbye to my husband...is there anything we can do with him?" She pleaded, but to no avail.

"I...dont think so. Vince knew that too. We can't keep rotting bodies inside the store, and he still tricked all of you into this anyway." She glanced at the man who had been carrying Alvin, whose lip was puffed out, still keeping tears back.

"Oh, Christ. So he didn't know either, huh?" Tisha said. "What am I going to do..." She whispered to herself. "I just wish Tavia were here. She'd at least have some idea on how to handle this."

Rebecca stood there, helpless. Her husband was dead, and now she would have to watch his body be tossed over the roof. But, it would be too much. Tears were streaming down her face as she choked out "You guys are right. We can't keep bodies in the store like this. It just isn't smart. Just...just do it. I can't watch." Rebecca said. It was the only way, in this world being smart was important. There was no other way, and it was carried out. The man climbed the stairs with Alvin's body, and after a few minutes Rebecca sobbed. "I felt something. Something...different. I almost feels like- I almost feels like I felt him hit the ground." Her love was officially gone.

Changed into their new clothes, Clementine at least felt a little better. They weren't sitting in those blood caked anchors anymore. They were able to find Sarah, hiding away in some crevice of the store. She was unharmed. "Rebecca..." Clementine whispered. Clementine's bed creaked as she tried to shift towards Rebecca's.

Rebecca turned her head towards a wall, leaving the world behind her behind. "Don't. I don't want to talk about it." She said, her voice deadpan in nature.

Clementine bit her lip. The words did not come easy. It was dark outside, and cold. So cold. Clementine had seen light snowfall earlier, but thought nothing of it until they were outside. Now, it was bad. They had a small fire in the pit, and the heat that radiated from it was keeping her going. "I just wanted to say, that we are going to be okay." Clementine whispered, her words filling the then empty air.

"It's going to be okay? What part of it?" Rebecca said. There was a true void between the girls, and the slight dimness of the fire made their faces glow. Clementine could just make out Rebecca's face. "The herd...My baby...Sarah...Alvin..." She whispered. "How is it going to be okay?"

The herd itself had gone quiet as the sun went down. The temperature had gone down, and their activity slowed. "Because we can do this." Clementine said. "We're here, and we're still breathing."

She shook her head. "To be honest Clem, I don't think I'm going to be okay this time. I don't think any of us are. Some things stay with you." Rebecca crawled under the thin covers of the bed. But, in between the whispers of the darkness, Clementine still heard more sobs coming from Rebecca.

Clementine fell back into the comfort of her own bed, the pillow caressing her head. Rebecca's words echoed throughout her mind. Clementine had to be okay. She couldn't let any of it get her. Someone had to be out there still...Kenny, Luke, Nick...they could not have all died that night. Although, it was unlikely that any of them would ever come back. They must be assuming Clementine died. The two other people out here with her were her last hope...Sarah and Rebecca.

 _Stop._

It was too painful to think about the group, or what was left of it. Passing onto the next day was what mattered. She rested her eyes, dreaming of a better tomorrow.


	6. The Way It Is

A/N: Wow! 2 and a half months since my last update? How tragic. Sorry about that, since my last update I went to Canada, chose a college and finished up high school. What a wild ride, and a mess at that! I've gathered enough brain power over this time to finally so some writing! This chapter's the beginning of a tide turner!

* * *

Chapter 6: The way it is.

Tavia opened her eyes. Her ears were ringing, and her vision was blurred. Her head felt as if it was splitting in half. Through the cloudiness of her mind, all she heard were the faint screams of familiar voices.

"You idiot! Do you have any idea what you're doing?" The voice of a woman.

"Me? You and Tavia have no idea what you're doing!" The voice of a man.

She didn't move from her spot, she didn't have any energy to. She lied there, dead in her bed. Her eyes just stared blankly into the brick wall before her. Her face was mushed into the mattress. What in the hell was going on? All she did was blink. She couldn't get up. Although she tried to fight it, the world around her slowly faded back to black.

* * *

It was morning when she woke up. The sleeping quarters were rather brisk, and there was no one else in the room. The room was lined with bed on each side, reminiscent to military barracks, just what Tavia could remember from movies. There was nothing on the walls, and faded bricks were the only thing that decorated the room. This was where everyone slept, the next room was the infirmary. Tavia sat up in bed. The world spun around her.

"Oh... _fuck_." She whispered to herself. The headache was still there. The bright lights helped nothing. There was only one window in the room, and it was small. It was near the ceiling, but through it Tavia could see what time of day it was. Along with snow. "Looks like it's snowed again. Just great." She remembered the cruel mornings, left with nothing but shovels to clear the snow. That was one of the upsides of having a community in a hardware store. More rock salt than they knew what to do with.

Tavia climbed the narrow stairs, leading up to the ground floor of Howe's. Each step felt like she was hiking, her legs were jelly. When she finally opened the door, eyes turned to her.

"Oh, thank god you're awake." Wyatt said. He walked to Tavia, his face grim. "They were fighting all through the night." Tavia shot him a confused look, in such a short time she had missed so much.

"They? Fighting about what? Wyatt, what happened last night?" Tavia interrogated. She felt a wave of dysphoria shoot through her body. "How long have I been out?"

Wyatt shook his head. "God, you've really missed it this time Tavia. Tisha and Vince fought throughout the night about everything that's been going on lately. I really don't know the specifics. You should ask Tisha yourself." He explained.

"Christ. This is gonna be good." Her sarcastic tone almost drew a smile from Wyatt. "Thanks." Tavia continued her search.

"Oh, and by the way." Tavia turned around.

"Yeah?" She said.

"You were out for about seventeen hours."

* * *

Seventeen hours in the apocalypse was a large amount of time. In just a little more than that, a group managed to sweep Howe's off its feet and almost destroy it. The store still showed no signs of being the same after that night. To Tavia, the store always felt quaint when Carver was out. Though he wasn't there, she has yet to find that feeling.

She found Tisha just where she had expected to, guarding the pen. Upon seeing Tavia, her face relaxed.

"Thank god you're awake." Tisha said. "I basically took over for you in the time you were out, you know, being your second in command and all."

"Tisha...what happened last night?" Tavia whispered. Pain ran past Tisha's face.

"It was Vince again. I don't know what he's up to." Tisha explained. "Somehow, he was able to convince Gregory to take Alvin's body out of Carver's office while Rebecca was out of the pen. Vince got the three of them out, actually. Promised them new clothes or something. One of the girls ran off to a corner when it happened. Clementine just...handled it. That girl's really something else. But, when Rebecca saw his body...everything fell apart. She lost it..." Tisha trailed off, her eyes tearing up. Her voice shook with her words. "Her husband was right there...dead...I haven't felt like this since I was on duty as a cop, before the turn. You see some shit out there on the job. Wasn't too good at it, to tell you the truth. I forgot about it for a while. This brought everything back at once." Tisha continued. "Nevermind that... Tavia, Vince is starting to scare me. Things are also starting to turn in his favor.

"What do you mean?" Tavia asked.

"The more he talks about the pen, and what they should do to the group, the more people take his side." Tisha said. "Just this morning he was ranting about Rebecca, Clementine and Sarah. None of it even made sense...but a few people cheered him on." Tisha bit her lip. "Ever since that herd broke in...some people here are different. Not right, even. I think we should keep an eye on them."

Tavia sat back a minute to think. Only awake for half an hour, but she was already right back in the middle of it all. To stop this, she would have to convince not only the entire community that Clem and her group wasn't a threat, but also Vince. But if what Tisha said was true...it would be harder than she thought.

"Come on. Let's go talk to Vince."

* * *

They found Vince in the makeshift kitchen, eating. It was originally a break room, but they were able to build a kitchen out of it. He was standing there alone, but he had a smug look upon him that did not fade when he saw Tavia and Tisha.

"Oh, good morning!" Vince exclaimed. "Feeling better?" He said.

"I'm going to need you to cut the bullshit, Vince." Tavia interjected. "You're gonna stop before this goes too far. You and I both know that if something happens, there could be no going back."

Vince chuckled. "No. _You're_ the one who's going to stop. We're on the front of more change around here, one that takes you two out of the equation. Before the walkers took this world over, I protected those close to me. Before the dead walked the earth, I killed for my family. This community is my family now. And I'd _kill_ to protect them."

"Vince, you still don't get it. No one has to die here. We can all live here...together." Tavia explained, the passion surpassing her words.

"You're kidding, right? How long until they hatch another plan that finally kills off the rest of us? Are you even thinking at all? They were dangerous before, and they're dangerous now. There's nothing more to it." Vince shot back.

Tavia's face grew hot. Vince was not open to compromise at all. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. We are only dealing with three of the original group we had captive here. Two children, and a pregnant woman. How hard is it to understand that even if they wanted to do something, they couldn't?"

"Vince, you're heading down a _very_ dangerous road. I've seen it happen before. This mindset is not good to be in. I think you should stop. You should stop before it's too late." Tisha said. Vince put down his food.

"That doesn't matter. That one kid did more damage to this place than any bandit attack we've ever fought off. Sorry, but I don't trust them. Not only that, but did you forget the herd is still outside? I'm counting down the time until they decide to use it to their advantage again. When that happens, I'll be waiting." Vince said.

Tavia took a threatening step towards Vince. "Actually, you won't. You aren't the leader of this community. _I am._ I have the final say on what happens to everyone here. You don't. Learn your place, Vince. We won't let what happened with Carver happen again just because you have some vendetta. Fuck off."

He smiled. "You don't even see the community being taken from you _right under your nose. Your days are numbered._ " Vince whispered into Tavia's face. He slowly walked from the kitchen.

From behind a stack of boxes, a bunch of cleaning supplies fell over. Tavia's head jolted to the side at the sound. Out from behind the boxes was Becca.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" She questioned. Becca slowly walked from the mess, pouting her lips at the fact she was caught. "Don't play that bullshit with me, either."

Her pouting face faded. "Just listening in on something everyone else should know about."

"Stop it. There's enough tension around here. You sure you really want to cause more?" Tisha said.

"Neither of you see that Vince is right here. They're going to hurt us...and it's only a matter of time until it happens." Becca said.

Tavia let out a sigh. "Nothing is going to happen! Everything is under control."

Becca spun around on her feet and started walking towards the door. "Whatever you say." And she was gone.

"Jesus christ..." Tisha whispered. Tavia was at a loss for words. All she wanted was to keep this community going, they all deserved to live at least. But Vince kept getting in the way. On top of that, he was fueling Becca's behavior. She lowered her eyes. They were going to destroy themselves before the walkers would even have a chance to.

"Have they eaten yet?" Tavia asked.

"Who? _Oh._ No, they haven't."

"I'll go bring them something. You can go back to whatever you were doing.

* * *

Tavia manned the tray in her hands, three bowls of soup were on it. It had a satisfying aroma to it, some of the best cuisine the apocalypse had to offer. As she walked, she studied the gentle back and forth motion of the soup.

 _Wow...maybe I should get back to sleep._

The pen door opened, and three pairs of eyes fell onto Tavia.

"I brought you guys some food." She said. She set the tray down and they picked up their meals. "I just...I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday. I passed out, lost a bunch of hours. Vince took that opportunity and pounced on it. He's trying to torment you guys...it's just not right."

"It's alright. I've dealt with worse people." Rebecca said.

"Me too." Clementine sat down next to Rebecca, both with solemn looks on their faces. Sarah seemed more lively this morning, the brisk weather jolting the three of them to life. Her eyes were not completely hollow, they hinted at a slight sliver of life inside them. It warmed Tavia.

She sat there for a few moments, pondering about them. Once she got Vince calmed down, they would all stand chance together. As of right now, Tavia had a lot of catching up to do. Before she even got a chance to leave, Rebecca clenched her stomach again.

"Oh god..." She said. "They weren't like this yesterday. I think they're getting closer together. Tavia...get Vera." Rebecca clenched her teeth in pain.

Tavia's heart was in her throat. She had hoped that Rebecca's baby could wait until things were calmed down, but the course of nature waited for no one. She shuffled out of the pen, searching anywhere she could for Vera.

She wasn't on the ground floor. It had already been a few minutes since she left Rebecca, and Vera was nowhere to be found. The supply closets, the sleeping area, the infirmary, none of these rooms had Vera in them. Vera was frequently in the infirmary, too. She was the only person there with a detailed medical background, their lifeline of sorts. Tavia's heart was racing as she pushed through the store, looking for her.

The door flew open to the roof, the bitter air hitting Tavia's face. Snow encapsulated the area. There wasn't much, but enough to impede travel on foot for a bit. It was rather windy, too.

Tavia was all but running when she opened the doors of the greenhouse, Vera jumping at her sudden entrance.

"What are you doing in here?" Tavia demanded. She had a slight pant to her voice, but she was calming down.

"Just because everything else has fallen apart doesn't mean my garden has to." She purred. When Vera wasn't in the infirmary, she could be found in the garden. "Now, what is it?"

"It's Rebecca. The baby may be coming." Tavia said. Vera stood up and brushed off her pants. "We're going to need water, towels, and medicine." She explained. "I need you and Tisha in there."

"Tavia."

"We're going to need to move them inside."

"Tavia."

"It's too cold out there for fucking childbirth. We need to find a spot for the baby inside too."

" _Tavia._ " That finally got her attention.

"What?"

"Listen. I'm not saying no, but- I need you to think about what you're doing. This is going to take a lot of medicine and water. Two invaluable resources we don't have much of. It pains me to say this as a nurse, but just like with Clementine, we should think about not offering them any medicine. Since we offered it to Clementine, there's less to go around now. Any painkillers we give Rebecca would only help her after the fact. You know that, right? It's too late now. I'll be down in a few minutes. I need to wash up."

Tavia stood there, feeling like an idiot. She was dumbfounded by Vera's words, totally blindsided by her indifference on either side of the conflict. And so, the seed planted within her long ago began to grow. "Fine." She spat.

And just like that, she was off. Tavia gathered the supplies Rebecca needed as fast as she could in a race against time. She got the water she needed, towels, and even food for later. But that same seed was tugging at her mind again. The infirmary was _unlocked_. Tavia studied the door from across the main floor, the narrow staircase beckoning her. The words _what if_ tickled her tongue. Like she had told Vince, this was _her_ community now, and she had the final say on it all. Why should she have to listen to any of them at all? Tavia gave up to the bitter temptation of her power. She crept up to the door, looking around to see if anyone was watching. No one was. Tavia was tired of talking with them, it never resulted in any progress. This time, it would be different. Between Vince, Tisha, and the rest of the community, there was no one that agreed with her leadership completely. And that was just too bad.

She slipped into the basement with the stealth of an assassin, the hallway came into view. First door on the right was the infirmary. The ends were to justify the means here. If some medicine were to go missing, there would be no one there to notice, especially if she changed the records.

The room was well organized, and Tavia found what she needed quickly. _Morphine._ There were two jars left, each with a few pills in them. She pocketed the entire bottle. In the same move, she picked up the clipboard and began flipping through the pages. Each title had a corresponding number to it.

 _Bandages._

 _Peroxide._

 _Disinfectant._

 _Morphine. *NOTE: Only to be used in the most dire emergencies.*_

She erased the number that was first there, two, and replaced it with the number one. It had to be the ugliest number she had ever written. Tavia went further back in the records and adjusted the amount down so the drastic change would not be noticed. She felt sick to her stomach in there, her face was cold and sweaty. Her entire body shook with every move she made. It was the perfect plan, so simple yet so complex. To justify her own actions, she figured that this _was_ a dire emergency.

She played a dangerous game with her actions, but so did everyone else. Tavia would manage the community the way she saw fit, and that would be the end of it. Nothing from Vince, nothing from Vera. This was her community now, and that's the way it was.


End file.
